Louisville vs. Ball State
December 07, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2008
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On Deseree' Byrd)
"Des is in the hospital right now. Last night she came down with some severe headaches. She was really concerned because she has some family history with that. She went down to the ER around 11:45 and got released at about 3:00 a.m. They sent her home and at about 6:00 a.m., they came back worse. So she called 911, they came and picked her up and I met her down there around 6:30 this morning. Right now they are running tests, trying to find out what could be causing that. As of right now, we are not sure know what's going on."
(On second half)
"We finally came out and started to defend. We didn't guard at all in the first half. As good as Angel was in the second half, was about as bad as she was in the first half. She was a train wreck. She gave up about 10 straight points. She went and helped when she wasn't supposed to. She got beat and when she settled down, we started to defend and we could score off our defense. We did a very good job of that in the second half."
(On Mary Jackson)
"I told the freshmen before the game with Des and Laura out they were going to their chance. It's easy to complain about not playing when you don't have to go out and back it up. Now they have their chance and I was very impressed with both of them for the way they played. Mary - what you saw tonight is exactly why we recruited her. She plays hard and gets scrappy rebounds. She is a fighter out there. We had not seen that yet. Tonight I was very pleased with her."
(On Tiera Stephen)
"The problem with Tiera was the nine was in the turnover column the last few games instead of in the nine in the assist column like today. She has been making some great passes in the last seven games but they were to the wrong team. She finally realized who she was throwing the basketball to. This is the best game I have seen her play. If she can continue to grow- we don't expect her to do that every night- but if she can give us half of that each night; we are going to have a nice competition in the point guard spot when Des comes back."
Senior Forward, Angel McCoughtry
(On difference in first half and second)
"We came out sluggish today, Coach was telling us you can't look at the name on the jersey. So I think we just came out sluggish and our defense was slacking. So we had to turn it up a notch for the second half."
(On being without Deseree' Byrd)
"I felt fine but I don't know if everybody else felt uneasy. I guess it was just a different atmosphere without her being there. She brings a lot of energy and a lot of excitement on the court. Whenever you lose somebody it's just a different atmosphere but I think that's what it was going on."
(On adversity)
"This team has been through a lot. A lot of people have been getting sick and a lot of injuries but I think that's what's going to help us in the long run. We have been through so much this semester, the second half is going to be a breeze for us. That's how I truly feel."
Freshman Point Guard, Tiera Stephen
"I was nervous because the last couple of games I didn't play that many minutes and then I find out she wasn't playing at all and she told me this was my opportunity to step up. Des(Byrd) and I are really close and she just told me it was my time to step up. She said you just got to go out there and do what you do. I talked to her before the game so that really helped ease my mind."
(On playing in the game)
"Coach told us, always tells us if you work hard and just go hard and talk you will play. I didn't play that much in the last few games. But in the second half he told me if I play defense and if I pressure then I will stay in. I was out of breath but I just had to keep going, get my minutes in. Whatever it took, just play defense, pressure, and make it uncomfortable for the other team."
(On second half)
"Angel hit a couple shots that got us fired up. Then we picked up full court defense and got some steals. Whenever you make a basket and then come back on defense and get a stop, you just have all the motivation to keep going. It was just defense."
Freshman Forward, Gwen Rucker
(On being in basketball shape)
"I haven't been running a lot. Volleyball isn't a running up and down game, it's just two different kind of shapes. I'm not out of shape, I'm just not in basketball shape."
(On playing a contact sport)
"The first elbow I got I was a little angry. I kind of missed it, because when you get contact you fired up and everybody else gets fired up. Basketball is a contact sport and I have to get ready for it."
(On fitting in without practice)
"I didn't shoot very much in the off season because I was playing volleyball. I focused on playing volleyball. The girls have my back and they know its going to take me some time. I didn't know any of the plays but I knew to run and talk. That's what I knew and that's what I did."
